MEMOIR 


OF 


JOHN  LE  CONTE, 


1818-1891. 


JOSEPH    L  E  C  0  N  T  K 


READ  BKFOKK  THE  NATIONAL  ACADEMY,   APRIL,   1S<>4. 


r 


MEMOIR 


OF 


JOHN  LECONTE, 


1818-1891 . 


JOSEPH    L  E  C  0  N  T  E 


READ  BEFORE  THE  NATIONAL  ACADEMY,  APRIL,  1894. 


49  369 


BIOGRAPHICAL  MEMOIR  OF  JOHN  LE  CONTE. 


John  Le  Conte  was  born  on  a  plantation  in  Liberty  county, 
Georgia,  December  4,  1818.  As  his  family  name  indicates,  he  was 
of  French  Huguenot  descent.  His  earliest  American  ancestor, 
Guillaume  Le  Conte,  left  his  native  city  of  Rouen  soon  after  the 
revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes,  1685,  and  in  consequence  thereof, 
and  after  a  brief  stay  in  Holland  and  in  England,  came  to  America 
and  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York.  A  full  account  of  his 
ancestry  has  already  been  given  in  the  biography  of  his  cousin, 
John  Lawrence  Le  Conte  (Biogr.  Mem.,  vol.  ii,  p.  263),  and  need 
not  be  repeated  here.  But  his  immediate  parentage  and  the  con- 
ditions under  which  he  was  born  and  educated  had  so  important  a 
bearing  on  his  character  and  life-work  that  it  cannot  be  passed  over 
without  brief  mention.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  we  know  so 
little  of  the  boyhood  of  distinguished  men,  for  this  is  the  character- 
forming  period  of  life. 

Louis  Le  Conte,  the  father  of  John,  was  the  elder  brother  of 
Major  John  Eatton  Le  Conte,  so  well  known  in  the  history  of 
American  science.  He  was  born  August  4,  1782,  it  is  believed  in 
Shrewsbury,  N.  J.,  but  lived  and  received  his  early  education  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  and  was  graduated  in  Columbia  College  in 
1800,  at  the  early  age  of  eighteen.  After  graduation  he  studied 
medicine  with  the  celebrated  Dr.  Hosack,  but,  it  is  believed,  never 
graduated  in  that  profession.  He  certainly,  however,  acquired 
great  knowledge  and  skill  in  medicine,  which  was  of  great  impor- 
tance to  him  subsequently  on  his  Georgia  plantation.  About  1810 
he  removed  to  Liberty  county,  Georgia,  to  take  possession  of  a 
large  property  in  land  and  negroes  left  him  by  his  father,  John. 

Liberty  county  was  originally  settled  by  a  colony  of  English 
Puritans,  who  have  left  their  strong  impress  on  the  character  of  the 
people  of  that  county  even  to  the  present  day.  A  more  intelligent 
and  moral  community  I  have  never  seen.  It  received  its  name  of 
Liberty  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  it  was  the  first  colony  in 
Georgia  to  raise  the  flag  of  independence  on  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war  of  the  Revolution,  in  1776. 

371 


NATIONAL    ACADEMY    OF    SCIENCES. 

Louis  Le  Conte  married  Ann  Quarterman,  a  maiden  of  this 
colony.  Of  the  seven  children,  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  the 
issue  of  this  marriage,  John  was  the  fourth  child  and  the  second 
son.  His  father,  Louis,  lived  on  his  plantation  and  devoted  him- 
self entirely  to  the  care  and  management  of  his  large  property  and  to 
the  passionate  pursuit  of  science  in  nearly  all  departments,  but 
especially  in  those  of  chemistry  and  botany,  in  both  of  which  his 
knowledge  was  both  extensive  and  accurate.  The  large  attic  of  his 
plantation-house  was  fitted  up  as  a  chemical  laboratory,  in  which 
he  carried  on  researches  daily.  I  well  remember  what  a  privilege 
it  was  to  us  boys  to  be  permitted  sometimes  to  be  present,  and  with 
what  silent  awe  and  tiptoe  steps  we,  especially  John,  followed  him 
about  and  watched  these  mysterious  experiments. 

His  devotion  to  botany  was  even,  if  possible,  still  more  intense. 
A  large  area  of  several  acres  of  enclosed  premises  was  devoted  to 
the  maintenance  of  a  botanical  and  floral  garden,  widely  known  at 
that  time  as  one  of  the  best  in  the  United  States,  and  often  visited 
by  botanists,  both  American  and  foreign.  Far  removed  from  any 
city  (Savannah  was  near  forty  miles  distant),  this  garden  was  used 
only  for  scientific  study  and  refined  enjoyment.  It  was  the  never- 
ceasing  delight  of  the  children.  The  tenderest  memories  cluster 
around  it,  especially  about  the  image  of  our  father  in  his  daily  walks 
there  after  breakfast,  sipping  his  last  cup  of  coffee,  enjoying  its  beauty, 
planning  improvements,  and  directing  the  labor  of  the  old  negro 
gardener, "  Daddy  Dick."  It  is,  alas,  in  ruins  now,  but  some  of  the 
grand  camelia  japonica  trees,  of  which  there  were  eight  or  ten,  still 
remain.  I  said  "trees,"  for  in  December,  1891,  I  visited  the  old 
place  and  measured  some  of  these.  The  largest,  a  double  white, 
measured  fifty-four  inches  in  girth  ;  ten  inches  from  the  ground 
where  the  first  branches  came  off.  In  bygone  days  I  have  seen  at 
least  one  thousand  pure  white  blossoms  five  inches  in  diameter  and 
double  to  the  center  on  it  at  once. 

To  supply  this  garden  he  made  many  excursions,  often  with  visit- 
ing botanists  or  collectors,  sometimes  lasting  several  days,  and 
always  returning  laden  with  botanical  treasures.  As  evidence  of 
his  keen  perception  of  the  true  affinities  of  plants,  it  is  noteworthy 
.that  although  the  Linnean  system  was  at  that  time  universally 
used,  yet  even  at  this  early  day  he  always  spoke  of  the  affinities  of 
plants  in  terms  of  their  natural  orders. 

Nor  was  he  neglectful  of  other  departments  of  science.     This  was 


JOHN    LE  CONTE. 

well  shown  in  the  composition  of  his  large  library  of  scientific  books 
and  periodicals.  In  fact,  his  love  of  nature  was  so  spontaneous  and 
passionate  that  it  could  not  but  extend  in  all  directions.  Mathe- 
matics, astronomy,  physics,  geology,  and  zoology  alike  engaged  his 
attention.  I  remember  well  the  intense  enthusiasm  with  which  he 
read  Lyell's  Principles  of  Geology  when  first  published.  I  remem- 
ber, too,  his  delight  in  working  out  the  most  complex  mathematical 
puzzles  ;  such,  for  example,  as  magic  squares.  The  boys  were  all 
ardent  gunners,  but  under  his  influence  we  never  failed  to  observe 
carefully  what  we  shot.  Every  new  form  of  bird  or  beast  was 
brought  home  in  triumph  to  be  determined  in  name  and  affinities 
by  him. 

Nor  was  he  wanting  in  kinds  of  culture  other  than  scientific. 
His  training  in  Latin,  for  example,  was  so  thorough  that  he  read 
it  at  sight  almost  as  readily  as  English. 

It  is  easy  to  see  from  the  above  sketch  that  Louis  Le  Conte  was 
one  of  a  type  of  scholars  now  almost  extinct.  Such  simple,  dis- 
interested love  of  truth  for  its  own  sake,  such  open-eyed,  yet  thought- 
ful, observation  in  all  directions,  such  keen  insight,  such  passionate 
love  of  nature,  and  all  combined  with  such  utter  forgetfulness  of 
self  and  absence  of  any  ambition  or  vanity  of  reputation.  Those 
who  knew  him  best,  but  especially  his  brother,  Major  John  Le 
Conte,  affirmed  that  he  made  many  important  discoveries  in  both 
chemistry  and  botany,  yet  he  never  published  a  line,  but  freely  gave 
away  his  new  things  in  the  latter  science  to  his  many  correspondents 
in  New  York. 

Here,  then,  until  his  death,  in  1838,  he  lived  his  simple,  quiet  life 
of  intellectual  culture  and  beneficent  activity,  administering  the 
affairs  of  an  estate  with  two  hundred  slaves  with  firmness  and  kind- 
ness, daily  directing  their  labor,  visiting  the  sick,  and  caring  for  the 
old.  His  medical  knowledge  was  of  inestimable  value  to  him  now, 
not  only  on  his  own  place,  but  to  the  poor  of  the  surrounding 
country,  who  were  unable  to  pay  for  medical  service.  His  planta- 
tion was  on  the  borders  of  the  pine  barrens  of  Mclntosh  county,  in- 
habited only  by  a  shiftless  class  of  "  Pine  Knockers."  For  twenty 
miles  about,  in  pure  charity,  he  visited  these  people  in  their  sickness; 
and  in  chronic  cases  I  even  bringing  their  children  to  his  own  house, 
as  the  only  hope  of  their  recovery.  In  order  to  diminish  their  sense 
of  dependence  and  to  cultivate  in  them,  if  possible,  a  sense  of  self- 
respect  he  sometimes  required  of  them  in  return  some  light  work, 

373 


NATIONAL    ACADEMY    OF    SCIENCES. 

as  picking  of  cotton  or  gathering  of  corn.     He  was  looked  up  to  by 
these  poor  people  as  a  being  of  another  order  from  themselves. 

It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  passionate  love,  the  reverence,  approach- 
ing to  fear  and  even  to  worship,  with  which  he  inspired  his  children. 
The  effect  of  such  a  life  and  such  a  character  on  young  John  is 
simply  inestimable.  To  the  day  of  his  death  John  looked  back  on 
his  father  with  the  greatest  love  and  reverence  and  upon  his  in- 
fluence as  the  greatest  of  all  influences  in  forming  his  character  ; 
and,  indeed,  of  all  the  children  John  most  resembled  his  father. 

I  have  dwelt  somewhat  on  the  life  and  character  of  Louis  Le 
Conte,  not  only  because  of  its  paramount  influence  on  his  children, 
especially  John,  but  also  because  such  a  life  and  such  a  character 
ought  not  to  go  wholly  unrecorded. 

Liberty  county  at  that  time  abounded  in  game  of  all  kinds  and 
its  waters  swarmed  with  fish.  The  mother  died  early  (John  was 
then  eight  years  old),  and  the  boys  were  left  wholly  in  the  care  of 
the  father.  His  theory  of  the  education  of  boys  was  to  give  as 
much  freedom  as  was  at  all  consistent  with  safety.  He  allowed  us 
the  free  use  of  fire-arms,  but  early  impressed  upon  us  the  habit  of 
careful  handling.  All  the  boys  were,  of  course,  passionately  fond 
of  field  sports  of  all  kinds.  Indeed,  life  on  a  plantation  in  the  South 
at  that  time  was  a  very  paradise  for  boys.  Not  only  the  unlimited 
hunting,  fishing,  swimming,  &c.,  but  all  the  multitudinous  farm 
operations  required  at  that  early  time,  the  tanning,  the  shoemaking, 
the  blacksmithing,  the  carpentering,  the  picking,  ginning,  and  pack- 
ing of  cotton,  the  reaping,  threshing,  winnowing,  and  beating  of  rice, 
and  the  machinery  required  for  all  these  operations,  were  a  constant 
source  of  delight  and  culture  to  the  boys. 

It  was  amid  such  intellectual  and  moral  influences,  amid  such 
country  sports  and  plantation  operations,  that  John  Le  Conte  re- 
ceived his  first  impressions  of  life,  and  under  such  he  grew  up  until 
his  seventeenth  year,  when  he  went  to  college.  This  was  in  1835. 

His  early  education,  received  at  a  neighborhood  school,  supported 
by  four  or  five  families,  was  irregular  and  desultory  in  the  extreme, 
the  teachers,  as  was  common  at  that  time  in  country  schools  at  the 
South,  changing  almost  every  year.  He  was  fortunate,  however, 
in  having  as  teacher  during  the  last  two  years,  and  therefore  in 
immediate  preparation  for  his  college  course,  no  less  a  man  than 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  afterwards  the  distinguished  lawyer  and 
statesman. 


JOHN    LK  CONTK. 

His  collegiate  education  was  received  in  Franklin  College,  Uni- 
versity of  Georgia,  located  at  Athens,  where  he  was  graduated  with 
high  honor  in  1838,  and  immediately  thereafter  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine,  the  only  profession  at  that  time  open  to  a  man 
of  scientific  tastes  and  habits.  He  received  his  degree  of  doctor  of 
medicine  from  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New  York, 
in  1841.  At  that  time  he  greatly  desired  and  fully  intended  to 
complete  his  medical  education  in  Paris,  but  this  intention  was 
frustrated  by  the  death  of  his  eldest  brother,  William,  by  which  it 
became  his  duty  to  administer  on  the  estate  of  the  younger  children. 
His  education,  therefore,  was  wholly  American.  He  never  crossed 
the  Atlantic.  Soon  after  his  graduation  in  medicine  he  married 
Eleanor  Josephine  Graham,  a  lady  of  Scotch  descent,  with  whom 
he  became  acquainted  in  New  York  during  his  studies  there.  Of 
the  three  children,  the  issue  of  this  marriage,  only  one,  L.  Julian 
Le  Conte,  assistant  engineer  in  charge  of  Oakland  harbor,  survives. 

Unless  we  except  the  early  influence  of  his  father,  no  other  in- 
fluence so  greatly  affected  the  whole  course  of  his  life  as  that  of  his 
wife.  Mrs.  John  Le  Conte  was  a  woman  of  rare  intelligence,  spirit, 
and  vivacity  and  of  great  force  of  character,  united  with  queenly 
beauty  and  great  social  influence.  He  never  undertook  any  enter- 
prise or  made  any  change  of  life  without  her  advice  and  counsel. 
Their  mutual  devotion  was  as  perfect  as  human  devotion  can  be, 
and  continued  with  ever-increasing  strength  to  the  very  end.  If 
he  had  lived  but  two  months  longer  they  would  have  celebrated 
their  golden  wedding.  He  was  looking  forward  to  this  happy  event 
with  eager  delight  only  a  few  days  before  his  death.  The  moral 
effect  of  such  a  wedded  life  who  can  estimate?  Surely  it  is  the 
most  powerful  of  all  influences  in  ennobling  and  purifying  human 
character.  If  character  is  formed  in  childhood,  it  is  ripened  and 
refined  by  a  happy  wedded  life. 

As  usual  in  men  of  science,  his  life  was  uneventful  in  the  ordi- 
nary sense  of  the  word.  His  main  achievements  were  in  the  inner 
world  of  thought  rather  than  in  the  outer  world  of  action.  After 
graduating  in  medicine  he  settled  in  Savannah,  and  there  practiced 
his  profession  with  moderate  success,  though  still  keeping  up  his 
pure  scientific  studies  ;  for  it  was  during  this  period  that  he  made 
some  very  important  experiments  on  the  alligator  to  determine  the 
seat  of  consciousness  and  volition  in  the  lower  vertebrates.  Of  the 
great  significance  of  these  experiments  we  shall  speak  later. 

375 


NATIONAL    ACADEMY    OF    SCIENCES. 

In  1846,  after  about  four  years'  practice  of  his  profession  in 
Savannah,  he  was  called  to  take  the  chair  of  physics  and  chemistry 
in  his  Alma  Mater,  Franklin  College,  University  of  Georgia,  and 
there  he  continued  to  teach  for  nine  years.  He  had  now  at  last 
found  his  true  field  of  activity  and  entered  upon  it  with  the  greatest 
enthusiasm.  As  may  be  anticipated,  therefore,  he  never  returned 
to  the  practice  of  medicine,  but  devoted  himself  unremittingly  to 
teaching,  investigating,  and  writing  on  his  favorite  subjects  during 
the  rest  of  his  life — L  e.,  for  forty-five  years. 

In  1855  he  resigned  his  place  in  Franklin  College  to  take  the 
chair  of  chemistry  in  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New 
York,  and  lectured  there  on  that  subject  during  the  winter  of 
1855-'56 ;  but  physics  rather  than  chemistry  was  his  favorite 
department,  and  therefore  in  the  summer  of  1856  he  accepted 
a  call  to  the  chair  of  physics  in  the  South  Carolina  College  at 
Columbia.  This  chair  he  held  until  his  final  move  to  California, 
in  1869. 

Meanwhile,  in  1862,  the  demands  of  the  terrible  war  then  in  prog- 
ress for  soldiers  was  so  severe  and  sweeping  that  the  college  was 
broken  up  for  want  of  students.  Le  Conte  was  now  appointed  by 
the  Confederate  government  superintendent  of  the  extensive  niter 
works  established  at  Columbia,  S.  C.,  with  the  rank  and  pay  of 
major,  although  he  never  donned  the  uniform.  He  retained  this 
place  until  the  end  of  the  war,  and  during  the  closing  scenes  and 
the  march  of  Sherman  through  the  State  he  suffered  many  hardships 
in  the  vain  attempt  to  save  the  property  of  the  Confederate  govern- 
ment in  his  charge.  It  was  during  this  period  of  turmoil  and 
anxiety  that  some  of  his  most  important  papers  were  written — papers 
of  pure  abstract  science — in  strange  contrast  with  the  furious  polit- 
ical storm  then  raging. 

The  issue  of  the  war  swept  clean  away  all  that  he  owned  as 
property,  and  the  utterly  disorganized  and  prostrate  condition  of 
the  South  left  no  place  for  men  of  scientific  tastes  and  student  habits. 
Therefore,  after  several  years  of  vain  struggle  to  revive  the  college 
and  place  it  again  on  a  firm  basis,  he  was  compelled  to  seek  else- 
where for  a  field  of  activity.  The  legislature  of  California  had  just 
then  (1868)  chartered  a  State  university.  It  was  not  yet  organized. 
Some  one  of  experience  and  reputation  was  needed  for  that  pur- 
pose. He  was  elected  in  1868  to  the  chair  of  physics  and  urged  to 
come  at  once  to  assist  the  regents  in  the  work  of  organization  of  the 

376 


JOHN    LE  CONTK. 

university.  He  went  in  March,  1869,  and  the  university  opened 
in  September  of  the  same  year. 

During  the  six  months  immediately  preceding  the  opening  of  the 
new  university  lie  was  in  constant  consultation  with  the  regents 
concerning  the  organization  of  its  various  courses.  During  the  first 
year  after  its  opening  he  acted  as  its  president  and  directed  its 
policy,  though  continuing  still  to  hold  and  to  perform  the  duties  of 
the  chair  of  physics.  The  combined  duties  of  these  two  positions, 
however,  proving  too  onerous  and  his  own  tastes  being  stronger  in 
the  direction  of  abstract  science,  rather  than  of  administrative  detail, 
at  the  end  of  the  year  he  withdrew  from  the  presidency  to  concen- 
trate his  energies  on  the  work  of  his  chair.  In  1875,  on  the  resig- 
nation of  President  Gilrnan,  he  was  again  asked  to  act  as  president, 
and  in  1876  he  was  elected  full  president,  though  still  retaining  his 
chair,  the  duties  of  which  were,  however,  now  lightened  by  the 
appointment  of  an  assistant.  In  1881  he  again  and  finally  resigned 
the  presidency,  but  retained  the  physical  chair,  which  he  continued 
to  hold  up  to  the  time  of  his  death. 

Such  is  a  brief  history  of  his  connection  wilh  the  University  of 
California.  It  is  seen  that  about  one-half  of  his  whole  life  as  a 
teacher  was  spent  in  her  service.  This  institution  was  planted  by 
his  hand  and  grew  up  under  his  eye  and  largely  under  his  guidance. 
It  opened  in  1869  with  thirty-eight  students,  eight  professors,  and 
an  income  of  about  $30.000.  Today  it  has  about  twelve  hundred 
students,  one  hundred  and  fifty  teachers  of  different  grades  in  all 
the  departments,  and  an  income  of  about  $350,000.  In  1869  it 
opened  as  a  traditional  college  of  letters  and  the  mere  beginnings 
of  a  college  of  agriculture.  Today  there  are  some  twelve  to  four- 
teen colleges,  literary,  philosophical,  and  professional.  It  is  every- 
where recognized  as  one  of  the  great  universities  of  our  country. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  its  remarkable  growth  and  especially 
its  high  character  for  thoroughness  is  largely  the  result  of  his  wise 
course  in  organization,  his  wisdom  and  firmness  in  guidance,  and 
his  wide  reputation  as  a  scholar  and  a  man  of  science.  More  than 
any  other  man  he  was  the  father  of  the  university.  The  strong  hold 
which  he  had  taken  on  the  respect,  the  reverence,  and  the  love  of 
his  colleagues,  his  pupils,  the  community,  and  the  State,  a  reverence 
and  love  all  the  deeper  for  its  quietness,  was  abundantly  shown  on 
the  occasion  of  his  death.  Such  an  outburst  of  universal  feeling  is 
seldom  shown  on  the  death  of  any  man,  especially  one  so  retiring 
50  377 


NATIONAL    ACADEMY    OF    SCIENCES. 

as  he.  It  was  the  spontaneous  homage  of  'a  whole  people  to  his 
character  and  to  his  great  influence  in  elevating  the  whole  plane  of 
education  in  the  State. 

Scientific  Work. 

Of  his  scientific  work  it  is  difficult  to  give  any  adequate  account 
within  the  limits  of  a  short  memoir;  it  was  so  many  sided.  Al- 
though his  chief  delight  was  in  physics,  and  in  early  times,  under 
the  influence  of  his  medical  studies,  also  physiology,  yet  he  was  not 
a  specialist  in  the  narrow  sense  in  which  that  term  is  now  used,  for, 
like  his  father,  his  mind  ranged  and  his  interest  extended  over  the 
whole  realm  of  nature,  though  doubtless  concentrated  on  certain 
departments,  especially  physics.  Thus  he  fully  retained  his  intel- 
lectual perspective — i.  e.,  the  perception  of  the  relation  of  the  differ- 
ent departments  of  nature  and  the  different  kinds  of  truth  to  one 
another,  so  apt  to  be  lost  by  the  mere  specialist.  His  wonderful 
memory,  his  methodical  manner  of  reading  and  recording,  and  his 
clearness  of  physical  conceptions  gave  him  a  fullness  and  wideness 
and  yet  an  accuracy  of  knowledge  rarely  attained.  Even  in  my 
own  department  of  geology,  especially  when  it  bordered  on  phys- 
ics, I  constantly  consulted  him,  with  the  greatest  confidence.  In  a 
word,  whenever  clearness  of  thought  and  accuracy  of  statement  on 
almost  any  scientific  study  was  required,  I  instinctively  turned  to 
him  as  I  would  to  a  cyclopedia.  Verily,  the  type  of  physicists  to 
which  he  belonged  can  hardly  be  said  to  exist  any  longer.  Such 
men  as  Newton,  Thomas  Young,  Sir  John  Hershell,  and  Wheat- 
stone,  in  England  ;  as  Arago  and  Laplace,  in  France,  and  Benja- 
min Franklin  and  Joseph  Henry,  in  this  country,  were  his  models. 
He  inherited  something  of  his  father's  indifference  to  reputation. 
At  least  he  had  little  of  the  eager  desire  to  rush  prematurely  into 
print,  too  common  at  the  present  time.  He  investigated  and  pon- 
dered long  before  he  wrote,  and  elaborated  his  manuscript,  both  as 
to  matter  and  as  to  literary  form,  with  care,  often  retaining  them 
for  years  before  publication.  The  amount  of  his  published  work, 
therefore,  bore  no  proportion  to  the  abundance  of  his  knowledge 
and  the  wealth  of  his  original  thought.  Besides  his  numerous 
contributions  to  scientific  periodicals,  he  had  commenced  during  the 
war  and  had  nearly  finished  a  complete  treatise  on  physics,  in  which 
were  embodied  his  wide  knowledge  and  long  experience  in  teach- 
ing, but  unfortunately  this  was  destroyed  during  the  burning  of 

378 


JOHN    LE  CONTE. 

Columbia,  in  February,  1865.  On  coming  to  California  he  com- 
menced again  to  write  it,  but  the  multitudinous  details  of  adminis- 
trative work  left  him  no  time  to  finish  it.  A  fragment  of  some 
hundred  pages  of  manuscript  still  exists  among  his  papers. 

During  his  long  scientific  career  of  just  fifty  years  he  published 
more  than  one  hundred  papers,  a  list  of  the  most  important  of  which 
are  appended.  Among  these  I  select  for  brief  analysis  a  few  of 
value,  so  great  that  they  have,  I  believe,  distinctly  affected  the 
course  of  scientific  progress. 

1.  Experiments  on  the  Seat  of  Volition  in  the  Alligator.  Published 
in  the  New  York  Journal  of  Medical  Science,  1845-'46. 

The  usual  view,  up  to  that  time,  was  (and  indeed  to  some  extent 
still  is)  that  the  cerebrum  alone  is  the  seat  of  consciousness  and 
volition,  and  that  the  function  of  the  spinal  cord  is  wholly  reflex. 
The  object  of  these  experiments  was  to  show,  and  they  did,  in  fact, 
very  clearly  show,  undoubted  purposive  action  or  conduct  in  the 
decapitated  alligator  on  the  application  of  appropriate  stimulation 
to  various  parts  of  the  body.  The  irresistible  conclusion  was  that 
consciousness  and  volition  are  not  confined  to  the  cerebrum  in  the 
alligator;  that  the  voluntary  and  reflex  functions  are  not  so  widely 
separated  and  strictly  localized  in  the  lower  verterbrates  as  they 
are  in  man,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  these  two  widely  distinct 
functions  overlap  and  are  both  widely  diffused  in  the  nervous  cen- 
ters of  these  animals. 

Some  late  physiologists,  indeed,  would  explain  these  phenomena 
differently.  Recognizing  what  seems  deliberate  purposive  action  in 
decapitated  frogs,  they  have  gone  to  the  other  extreme.  Instead  of 
extending  volition  in  an  obscure  form  to  the  spinal  cord  they  would 
take  it  away  even  from  the  brain.  They  say  that  all  so-called 
voluntary  purposive  action  is  merely  automatic,  and  even  man  him- 
self is  only  a  conscious  automaton.  The  answer  to  this  is  plain. 
There  are,  indeed,  many  conscious  automatic  actions  in  man,  as,  for 
example,  breathing,  swallowing,  &c. ;  but  there  is  a  wide  distinction 
between  these  and  those  we  call  voluntary. 

The  true  explanation  of  deliberate  purposive  action  in  decapitated 
reptiles  and  amphibians  is  that  given  in  Le  Conte's  paper  and  stated 
above.  These  experiments  were  an  early  illustration  of  the  general 
law  now  well  recognized  that  differentiation,  specialization,  and 

379 


NATIONAL   ACADEMY    OF    SCIENCES. 

localization  of  functions  increase  with  ascent  in  the  scale  of  organ- 
isms ;  that  functions  which  are  quite  distinctly  separated  and  local- 
ized in  the  higher  animals  are  more  and  more  diffused  and  merged 
into  one  another  as  we  go  down  the  scale.  Volition  and  automatism, 
for  example,  are  not  only  less  distinct  as  functions  in  an  alligator 
than  they  are  in  man,  but  they  are  less  localized,  the  one  in  the 
brain,  the  other  in  the  spinal  cord.  They  are,  in  fact,  widely 
diffused  throughout  the  nerve  centers.  It  was  an  early  and  admira- 
ble examble  of  the  application  of  the  comparative  method  in  physi- 
ology and  a  proof  of  its  fertility. 

2.  "  On  the  Exudation  of  Ice  from  the  Stems  of  certain  Plants  and 
on  the  Protrusion  of  Icy  Columns  from  certain  Soils."  Phil.  Mag.. 
1850. 

Curious  curling,  silky  ice-ribbons,  looking  like  bands  of  fibrous 
gypsum,  exuding  from  the  dead  stems  of  plants  near  their  base  are 
phenomena  characteristic  of  certain  annuals  common  on  the  coast  of 
Georgia,  and  therefore  familiar  to  the  keen  observation  of  Le  Conte 
from  early  boyhood.  These  curling  ice-ribbons  had  been  described 
by  others,  but  had  not  been  explained.  The  key  to  the  explanation 
of  these  he  found  in  the  study  of  the  much  more  widely  occurring 
phenomenon  of  the  protrusion  of  silky,  fibrous  transversely  striated 
ice-columns  from  certain  soils,  especially  and  in  the  greatest  perfec- 
tion from  the  residual  red-clay  soils  of  the  Piedmont  region  of  the 
southern  Atlantic  States,  where  they  are  often  five  inches  in  length. 
The  true  explanation  of  both  is  first  given  in  this  paper. 

The  explanation  may  be  briefly  summarized  as  follows :  The  nec- 
essary conditions  are  (1)  a  firm,  yet  porous,  soil.  This  is  eminently 
the  case  in  the  residual  red-clay  soils  of  the  South.  (2.)  Through 
this  soil  water  constantly  rises  and  freezes  only  at  the  very  surface, 
and  thus  the  ground  is  kept  warm  and  moist  and  unfrozen,  even  in 
the  coldest  weather,  by  the  ascending  water.  If  the  ground  freezes 
the  whole  process  stops. 

Now,  imagine  a  multitude  of  fine  capillary  tubes  terminating  at 
the  surface  and  water  rising  and  freezing  only  at  the  very  surface. 
Each  tube  would  become  trumpet-shaped  at  the  mouth  by  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  water  in  the  act  of  freezing  and  the  consequent  con- 
densation of  the  clay  between.  Freezing  and  expansion  in  this 
trumpet-shaped  mouth  would  produce  a  sudden  infinitesimal  jump 

380 


JOHN    LE  CONTE. 

of  the  ice  upward.  This  in  its  turn  would  draw  up  the  water  from 
below  aud  again  fill  the  trumpet-shaped  mouth,  and  the  same  opera- 
tion would  be  repeated  indefinitely.  The  capillary  fibers  cohering 
give  rise  to  the  silky,  fibrous  columns  ;  the  paroxysmal  upward 
jumping  gives  rise  to  the  transverse  ridging  of  each  fiber  and  thus 
to  the  transverse  striation  of  the  columns.  The  phenomenon  is  so 
curious  and  so  beautiful  that  it  attracts  attention  everywhere,  and 
it  is  remarkable  that  no  explanation  had  before  been  attempted. 

The  explanation  of  the  curling,  silky  ice-ribbons  exuding  from 
the  stems  of  plants  is  precisely  the  same.  Here  the  wood  pores  take 
the  place  of  the  earth  pores.  Here,  also,  if  the  stem  freezes  the 
process  stops.  The  flat  ribbon  shape  is  given  by  the  protrusion  of 
the  ice  through  fissures  in  the  bark. 

3.  " The  Influence  of  Musical  Sound  on  the  Flame  of  a  Gas-jet" 
Am.  Jour,  and  Phil.  Mag.,  1858. 

This  was  the  first  notice  and  explanation  of  the  beautiful  phenom- 
enon of  sensitive  flames  now  so  familiar  to  physicists.  The  expla- 
nation is  so  well  known  that  it  need  not  be  introduced  here. 

The  importance  of  this  discovery  cannot  be  overestimated,  for 
it  was  not  only  the  discovery  of  a  new  and  beautiful  phenomenon, 
but  it  introduced  a  new  method  of  research,  which,  in  the  hands  of 
Barrett,  Tyndall,  Koenig,  and  others,  has  revolutionized  the  science 
of  acoustics.  By  means  of  this  marvelously  delicate  test  of  gaseous 
vibrations  refraction  and  diffraction  and  interference  of  sound 
waves  are  easily  demonstrated.  Complex  sound  waves  are  analyzed 
and  their  components  rendered  visible.  The  analogy  of  sound  aud 
light  is  thus  made  clear  and  the  wave  theory  of  light  itself  placed 
on  a  surer  basis. 

4.  The  Adequacy  of  Laplace's  Explanation  to  account  for  the  Dis- 
crepancy between  the  Computed  and   Observed   Velocity  of  Sound   in 
Air  and  Gases.     Philosophical  Magazine,  January,  1864. 

This  paper  was  written  in  1861,  during  the  war  between  the 
States,  at  a  time,  therefore,  when  the  author  was  cut  off  by  the 
blockade  from  communication  with  the  scientific  world.  It  was 
held  in  the  hope  of  an  opportunity  of  publication,  which,  however, 
did  not  come  until  1864. 

381 


NATIONAL    ACADEMY    OF    SCIENCES. 

There  is  a  slight  discrepancy  between  the  observed  and  calculated 
velocity  of  sound  in  air  and  gases,  the  former  being  slightly  in  ex- 
cess. Laplace  explained  this  by  the  increased  elasticity  due  to  the 
heat  generated  by  compression  at  the  wave  crest.  This  increased 
.  elasticity  by  heat  of  condensation  is  not  compensated  for  by  any 
opposite  effect  of  the  cold  of  rarefaction  at  the  wave  trough,  as 
might  at  first  be  supposed.  On  the  contrary,  the  two  causes  co- 
operate, and  their  effects  must  be  added,  the  propagating  force,  so 
far  as  this  cause  is  concerned,  being  the  difference  of  elasticities  of 
crest  and  trough.  Many  physicists  held  that  this  explanation  was 
inadequate;  that  the  cause  was  not  sufficient  to  produce  the  effect, 
and  therefore  that  the  whole  theory  of  the  propagation  of  sound 
waves  needed  complete  revision.  Several  papers  had  about  this 
time  appeared  in  the  Philosophical  Magazine,  especially  one  by 
Earushaw,  to  prove  this  inadequacy.  This  paper  of  Le  Coute  aimed 
to  show,  by  calculations  based  on  the  latest  and  most  reliable  ex- 
perimental data  of  Regnault  and  others,  the  complete  adequacy  of 
Laplace's  explanations.  The  paper  showed  complete  mastery  of 
the  whole  subject,  both  as  to  the  physical  principles  and  to  the  pre- 
vious literature,  and  received  the  warmest  commendations  of  Sir 
William  Thomson  (now  Lord  Kelvin),  Tyndall,  and  others  eminent 
in  physics.  It  called  out  several  replies,  but  it  is  believed  that  the 
conclusions  will  stand  the  test  of  time. 

In  July,  1876,  being  one  of  a  party  of  men  of  science  specially 
invited  to  examine  the  first  telephones,  then  on  exhibition  at  the 
World's  Fair  at  Philadelphia,  I  there  met  Sir  William  Thomson. 
On  being  introduced  he  immediately  asked  me  if  I  was  the  author 
of  "  that  remarkable  paper  on  sound,"  of  which  he  again  expressed 
his  warm  admiration.  On  replying  in  the  negative  I  could  not  but 
observe  a  shade  of  disappointment  flit  across  his  face. 

5.  "  Sound  Shadows  in  Water."  American  Journal,  1881,  and 
Philosophical  Magazine,  1882. 

This  was  an  account  and  a  discussion  of  results  obtained  during 
an  experimental  investigation  carried  on  at  his  suggestion  by  his 
son,  L.  Julian  Le  Conte,  assistant  engineer,  in  charge  of  improve- 
ments in  the  harbor  of  San  Francisco.  Rincon  rock,  a  sunken  ledge 
obstructing  the  landing  along  a  portion  of  the  water  front,  was  being 
removed  by  blasting  with  dynamite.  This  afforded  an  excellent 

382 


JOHN    LE  CONTE. 

opportunity  of  experimentally  verifying  the  theoretical  cause  of  the 
difference  between  sound  shadows  and  light  shadows. 

Light  shadows  are  sharply  defined  geometric  projections  of  the 
object.  Sound  shadows,  on  the  contrary,  are  so  blurred  on  their 
edges  that  their  limits  cannot  usually  be  determined  with  certainty. 
The  reason  of  the  difference  is  the  extreme  shortness  of  the  waves  in 
the  one  case  and  their  great  comparative  length  in  the  other.  The 
character  of  the  shadows  in  the  two  cases  has  been  accurately  calcu- 
lated, but  experimental  verification  for  sound  waves  of  different 
lengths  was  still  wanting,  although  it  was  known  in  a  general  way 
that  the  shadows  of  acute  sounds  were  sharper  than  those  of  grave 
sounds.  Dr.  Le  Conte's  experiments  were  on  shadows  made  by 
subaqueous  explosions  of  mtro-glycerine.  The  sound  waves  made 
by  such  explosions  are  admirably  adapted  for  the  purpose  for  two 
reasons.  First,  because  they  were  subaqueous.  Water  carries  short 
sound  waves  better  and  farther  than  long  waves  and  better  than  air. 
Colladon's  experiments  on  Lake  Geneva  had  already  shown  that 
of  the  many  waves  of  different  lengths  made  by  striking  a  bell 
under  the  water  only  the  shortest  were  carried  to  any  considerable 
distance.  The  sharp  click  of  the  hammer  was  heard  much  farther 
than  the  musical  sound.  A  second  reason  is  because  the  extreme 
suddenness  of  nitro-glycerine  explosion  generates  waves  of  almost 
inconceivable  shortness.  The  shadows  of  such  waves  ought  by 
theory  to  be  exceptionally  sharp,  and  such  by  experiment  was 
found  to  be  a  fact.  Stout  glass  bottles  exposed  to  the  direct  action 
of  these  waves  at  a  distance  of  fifty  or  more  feet  were  invariably 
shattered,  while  behind  an  obstacle,  such  as  a  pier  or  pile,  even  at 
a  considerable  distance  behind  it  and  near  the  edge  of  the  geometric 
shadow,  they  were  completely  protected.  Thick  glass  rods  behind 
an  obstacle  one  foot  in  diameter  and  twelve  feet  away  from  it  were 
sharply  broken  on  each  side  at  the  margin  of  the  geometric  shadow, 
the  length  of  the  unbroken  part  being  exactly  equal  to  the  diameter 
of  the  obstacle. 

6.  Physical  Studies  of  Lake  Tahoe.    Overland  Monthly,  1883  and 

1884. 

Although  published  in  a  literary  periodical  and  therefore  written 
in  somewhat  popular  style,  this  is  really  a  scientific  paper  of  great 
importance.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  perfect  model  of  what  a  popular  scien- 
tific article  ought  to  be,  for  it  is  simple  in  style  and  yet  thoroughly 

383 


NATIONAL    ACADEMY    OF    SCIENCES. 

scientific  in  matter  ;  it  is  perfectly  intelligible  to  the  educated  pub- 
lic and  yet  of  deepest  interest  to  the  expert  physicist  as  a  real  con- 
tribution to  science.  The  paper  is  an  exhaustive  discussion  of  all 
the  most  interesting  questions  connected  with  mountain  lakes  in 
general,  and  this  one  in  particular  as  the  finest  of  all  examples  of 
such  lakes.  Among  the  questions  discussed  are  depth,  distribution 
of  temperature,  color,  and  rythmic  oscillations  of  level  or  seiche, 
&c. ;  but  its  chief  value  consists  in  its  admirable  discussion  of  the 
blue  and  green  color  of  pure  water  and  the  blue  color  of  the  sky. 
We  will  therefore  confine  our  analysis  to  this  point  alone. 

He  had  long  been  intensely  interested  in  the  beautiful  investi- 
gations of  Tyndall  on  the  blue  color  of  the  sky  and  of  Soret  on  the 
blue  and  green  color  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Geneva,  but  the  expla- 
nation was  still  unsatisfactory  ;  further  investigations  were  needed. 
He  had  already  himself,  in  1860,  published  some  observations  on 
the  marvelous  transparency  of  the  water  of  Silver  spring,  in  Florida, 
probably  the  most  transparent  water  in  the  world.  (Proc.  A.  A. 
A.  S.,  1860;  Am.  Jour.,  1861.)  But  the  water  of  this  wonderful 
pool  was  not  deep  enough  (about  forty  feet)  to  bring  out  color. 
Except,  perhaps,  the  Mediterranean,  there  is  no  water  so  well 
adapted  for  this  purpose  as  that  of  Lake  Tahoe.  Its  depth  (1,645 
feet,  as  determined  by  Le  Coute)  is  far  greater,  its  water  far  purer 
(the  limit  of  visibility  about  double),  and  therefore  the  splendor  of 
its  blue  color  far  finer  than  that  of  Lake  Geneva. 

Dr.  Le  Conte's  observations  on  Lake  Tahoe  were  made  in  1873 
while  spending  his  summer  vacation  on  the  Jake,  but  the  investiga- 
tions were  continued  in  his  laboratory  by  experiments  on  the  effect 
of  transmission  of  light  through  long  tubes  filled  with  distilled  and 
with  natural  waters  respectively  on  the  color  of  the  emergent  beam. 
The  final  results  were  not  published  until  1883,  although  reached 
and  embodied  at  least  five  years  earlier.  In  the  meantime  Soret 
had  been  carrying  on  similar  investigations  on  Lake  Geneva. 
These  were  published  partly  in  1878,  but  mainly  in  1884.  The  re- 
sults of  the  two  investigations  were  nearly  identical,  although  wholly 
independent  of  each  other. 

Le  Conte's  paper  was  an  exhaustive  discussion  of  the  whole  sub- 
ject of  colored  media  of  all  kinds  and  the  cause  of  color  in  each 
case.  The  general  result  of  the  experimentation  and  subsequent 
discussion  was  that  the  blue  color  of  water  is  due  partly  to  selective 
absorption — greater  for  the  red  end  than  the  blue  end  of  the  spec- 

384 


JOHN    LE  CONTi:. 

trurn — with  diffuse  molecular  reflection  of  the  unabsorbed  blue  rays, 
and  partly  to  selective  reflection  from  suspended  particles,  which,  if 
small  enough,  reflects  mainly  the  blue  rays.  In  absolutely  pure 
distilled  water  only  the  first  cause  operates  and  water  is  blue  as  blue 
glass  is  blue  ;  in  natural  water,  on  the  contrary,  the  second  is  the 
main  cause. 

This  view,  arrived  at  independently  by  Soret  and  Le  Conte,  com- 
pletely explains  all  the  phenomena  of  the  color  of  mountain  lakes, 
of  the  ocean,  and  of  the  sky.  For  example : 

Blue  Color. — It  follows  from  the  above  that  if  the  water  is  pure 
enough,  the  suspended  particles  are  small  enough,  and  the  lake  is 
deep  enough  so  that  all  the  light  that  comes  to  the  eye  is  from  in- 
ternal reflection,  the  color  will  be  blue,  and  the  splendor  of  the  blue 
will  be  in  proportion  to  the  purity  of  the  water  and  the  smallness 
of  the  suspended  particles. 

Green  Color. — The  green  colors  of  natural  waters  are  of  such 
various  shades,  depending  on  admixture  of  sediments,  color  of  bot- 
tom, and  nature  of  dissolved  organic  matter,  that  each  case  must  be 
investigated  for  itself.  I  shall  speak,  therefore,  only  of  the  green 
color  of  the  purest  mountain  lakes. 

Let  it  be  remembered,  then,  that  of  the  two  causes  of  blue  color 
mentioned  above  the  first — i.  e.,  selective  absorption — would  give  blue, 
both  by  reflected  and  by  transmitted  light ;  but  the  second  or  main 
cause — i.  e.,  selective  reflection — would  by  itself  produce  more  or  less 
completely  complimentary  yellow  or  orange  by  transmitted  light ; 
but  as  the  two  causes  are  always  combined  in  natural  waters,  the 
real  color  of  transmitted  light  in  the  case  of  purest  natural  water 
was  found  by  Le  Conte's  experiments  to  be  yellowish  orange  to 
yellowish  green. 

Let  it  be  remembered  again  that  the  green  color  of  purest  and 
deepest  mountain  lakes  is  found  only  on  the  margin,  where  the  water 
is  shallow,  but  not  too  shallow,  and  that  it  is  especially  splendid 
when  the  bottom  is  white  sand,  and  therefore  a  good  reflector.  Now, 
suppose  we  have  a  moderate  depth  of  twenty  to  thirty  feet  and  a 
white  bottom,  the  light  reflected  from  suspended  particles,  as  already 
seen,  would  be  blue,  while  the  light  going  through,  striking  the 
bottom  and  reflected  back  to  the  eye,  would  be  yellow  or  greenish 
yellow.  The  combination  of  this  with  the  blue  of  selective  reflec- 
tion would  make  various  shades  of  green,  according  to  the  depth  of 
the  water. 

51  385 


NATIONAL    ACADEMY    OF    SCIENCES. 

This  paper,  although  characterized  by  Soret  as  "  un  beau  rae- 
moire,"  yet,  on  account  of  its  having  been  published  in  a  literary 
periodical,  was  not  as  widely  known  among  scientific  men  as  it  de- 
served. It  is  for  this  reason  I  have  given  a  fuller  analysis. 

Many  other  papers  might  be  mentioned  as  almost  equally  deserv- 
ing of  attention,  but  space  and  time  forbid.  Among  the  last  of  his 
investigations  were  those  on  capillarity,  a  subject  admittedly  one  of 
the  most  obscure  and  refined  in  physics,  requiring  both  clearness  of 
physical  conceptions  and  mathematical  skill,  and  for  that  very 
reason  having  a  great  charm  for  him.  *  Thus  he  continued,  though 
with  slowly  decreasing  energy,  to  work  and  perform  every  duty  up 
to  a  few  days  of  his  death.  As  he  walked  to  and  from  his  daiiy 
duties  his  slender  figure,  bowed  form,  and  abundant  snowy  hair  and 
beard,  like  an  aureole  about  his  noble  head  and  benignant  face,  will 
long  remain  in  the  memory  of  his  friends  as  the  outward  visible 
expression  of  one  of  the  noblest  and  purest  of  human  spirits. 

In  June,  1889,  his  strength  visibly  failing,  he  was  given  a  year's 
leave  of  absence  for  travel,  recreation,  and  sorely  needed  rest. 
Unfortunately,  on  the  eve  of  his  intended  departure  for  Europe, 
where  he  expected  to  visit  personally  his  many  correspondents,  his 
wife  was  prostrated  with  protracted  illness.  For  nearly  a  year  he 
scarcely  left  her  bedside,  and  only  his  tender,  unremitting  care 
nursed  her  back  to  life  and  comparative  health.  The  opportunity 
of  recreation  was  lost.  Unrefreshed  at  the  beginning  of  the  session, 
August,  1890,  he  took  up  again  the  burden  of  duties,  and  would 
have  been  able  to  bear  it  to  the  end  of  the  session,  when  it  was 
arranged  he  would  be  permanently  relieved,  but  an  attack  of  la 
grippe  easily  overcome  his  weakened  frame,  and  after  an  illness  of 
a  few  days  he  died,  April  29,  1891. 

Character. 

It  doe?  not,  perhaps,  become  me,  who  stood  so  near  to  him,  to 
speak  at  any  length  of  his  character ;  but  one  trait  I  cannot  pass 
over,  for  it  was  bound  up  with  his  whole  intellectual  and  moral 
nature.  His  simple  love  and  earnest  seeking  of  objective  truth  had, 
as  it  were,  burned  in  through  the  intellectual  and  into  the  moral 
nature  of  the  man,  intensifying  his  inherited  love  of  truthfulness. 
His  life-long  habit  of  implicit  reliance  on  unchanging  natural  law 
served  to  increase  to  a  passionate  degree  his  native  integrity.  Truth 

386 


JOHN    LE  CONTE. 

he  loved  and  even  worshiped  as  the  image  of  God  in  the  human 
reason,  and  truthfulness  he  honored  as  the  very  basis  of  human 
character.  Therefore  next  to  his  devotedness  in  nearest  human 
relations,  and  indeed  closely  bound  up  with  this,  was  his  absolute 
transparent  truthfulness  and  his  utter  scorn  of  the  least  approach 
to  falseness  in  word  or  deed  or  any  indirectness  in  methods  of  attain- 
ing a  moral  end.  His  first  public  address  in  an  official  capacity  as 
president,  in  Oakland,  and  also  his  last,  in  Berkeley,  was  on  this 
subject. 

But  I  dare  not  speak  further  on  the  subject  of  his  innermost 
character.  Perhaps  my  relations  with  him  were  too  close,  my  view 
of  him  too  near,  to  see  well  the  general  effect.  The  beating  heart 
may  make  unsteady  the  hand  that  would  draw  a  true  picture.  Let 
those  speak,  therefore,  who  loved  him  and  yet  stood  a  little  farther 
away.  I  cannot  do  better  than  quote  from  a  memorial  drawn  up 
by  a  committee  of  his  colleagues  on  the  occasion  of  his  death. 

"Admirable  as  were  the  scientific  powers  of  our  associate  and 
distinguished  as  were  their  results,  it  was  even  more  in  the  general 
temper  and  spirit  of  his  mind  and  life  that  we  found  his  chief  at- 
traction. He  was,  indeed,  wholly  and  purely  of  scientific  spirit  and 
scientific  habit.  He  literally  lived  and  breathed  in  an  atmosphere 
of  scientific  thought,  and  yet,  as  much  as  this  disinterested  scientific 
spirit  attracted  our  attention  and  won  our  admiration,  it  was  rather 
the  moral  traits  of  our  friend  that  constituted  his  eminent  worth 
and  drew  forth  our  warmest  admiration  and  love.  Seldom  has  a 
man  exhibited  a  more  unvarying  and  entire  disinterestedness.  We 
can  truly  say  that  he  seemed  to  us  utterly  destitute  of  what  are 
called  ulterior  motives.  He  loved  truth  and  truthfulness  supremely. 
Fealty  to  all  truth,  whether  scientific  or  philosophical,  theological 
or  aesthetic,  and  fealty  to  all  persons  were  not  so  much  qualities  of 
him  as  sum  and  substance  of  the  man.  He  was  simplicity  and 
ingenuousness  embodied.  He  was  sympathetic,  generous,  tender, 
brave,  and  the  soul  of  honor.  It  is  not  for  us  to  invade  the  sacred 
precincts  of  his  more  intimate  relations  of  home  and  kindred,  but 
what  he  was  there  was  evident  enough,  even  to  those  who  saw  him 
from  afar." 

And,  again,  one  of  his  colleagues  who  has  known  him  longest, 
Martin  Kellogg,  now  president  of  the  university,  writing  of  him  in 
the  Overland  Monthly,  says  : 

387 


NATIONAL   ACADEMY    OF   SCIENCES. 

"And  so  we  commend  our  loved  colleague  to  our  young  men  for 
the  scholarly  breadth  of  his  culture,  as  well  as  for  its  completeness 
in  his  own  department  of  science. 

"  But  he  had  yet  stronger  hold  on  the  admiration  of  his  friends  and 
the  veneration  of  his  pupils.  It  is  the  nobleness  of  his  character. 
Scholar  and  scientist  might  be  less  important  to  some,  but  no  one 
could  fail  to  recognize  in  him  the  Christian  gentleman  and  noble- 
man. This  gave  him  commanding  influence  in  the  community,  in 
the  State,  and  in  all  the  States  in  which  he  had  lived.  Among  all 
the  men  connected  with  our  educational  interests  no  one  could  have 
a  larger  circle  of  sincere  mourners.  He  was  so  gentle  and  genial, 
so  learned  in  science,  so  highly  reputed  for  his  work  and  its  pub- 
lished results,  so  self-poised  in  his  judgments,  so  catholic  in  his 
recognition  of  all  higher  interests,  so  honored  in  the  esteem  of  his 
colleagues,  so  beloved  by  many  successive  generations  of  students, 
that  a  great  void  is  left  by  his  departure.  His  memory  receives 
such  tributes  of  praise  as  are  given  to  few  men  in  all  our  wide 
land — eulogies  won  by  a  long  life  of  beneficent  activity  and  of  rare 
purity  and  loftiness  of  character." 

The  Le  Conte  Memorial  Fellowship,  with  endowment  of  $10,000, 
established  by  the  alumni  of  the  university  soon  after  his  death, 
and  a  bronze  bust  of  him  as  he  appeared  draped  in  presidental 
robes,  given  also  by  the  alumni  and  now  in  the  library  of  the  uni- 
versity, are  testimonials  of  the  love  and  veneration  in  which  his 
memory  is  held  by  them. 

In  looking  over  what  I  have  said  of  his  character  I  perceive  that 
it  is  incomplete ;  that  one  side  is  wholly  unrepresented.  The  cause 
of  this  is  plain.  In  my  own  case  the  sense  of  irreparable  personal 
loss  and  in  the  case  of  his  colleagues  the  recency  of  his  death  at 
the  time  they  wrote  has  tinged  the  picture  with  a  too  somber  hue. 
The  effect  of  the  whole,  therefore,  may  seem  sad.  If  so,  this  is  a 
reflection  of  the  feelings  of  his  friends,  not  of  his  own  nature.  Next 
to  his  devotedness  to  persons  and  to  truth  his  most  pronounced 
characteristic  was  his  warm,  genial,  sunny  temperament.  This  was 
conspicuous  on  all  occasions  and  to  every  one,  but  especially  to 
visitors  under  his  own  roof.  Those  who  saw  him  there  felt  at  once 
instinctively  the  hearty  hospitality  of  an  ideal  home.  They  will 
remember  his  kindly  cheerfulness,  his  playful  humor,  and  his  con- 


JOHN    LE  CONTE. 

tagious  laughter  ;  in  a  word,  his  full  enjoyment  of  happiness  in  con- 
ferring happiness.  He  doubly  enjoyed  every  pleasure  in  sharing  it 
with  a  friend.  Indeed,  such  enjoyment  of  life  was  but  the  necessary 
complement  of  his  truthfulness,  his  genuineness,  his  heart-soundness, 
his  unostentatious  righteousness. 

His  colleagues  have  loved  to  hold  him  up  to  themselves  as  an 
example  to  imitate  and  to  the  young  men  as  an  ideal  to  follow- 
May  we  not  also  hold  him  up  to  men  of  science,  especially  in  these 
days  of  extreme  and  sometimes  narrow  specialization,  in  these  days 
of  profitable  science  and  often  of  science  for  profit?  May  we  not 
hold  him  up  to  scientific  men  of  our  country  as  the  embodiment  of 
the  broadest,  the  truest,  the  most  disinterested  spirit  of  science? 


389 


A  PARTIAL  LIST  OF  HIS  SCIENTIFIC  PAPERS. 

1.  "  Case  of  Carcinoma  of  the  Stomach."     ("New  York  Medical  Ga- 
zette," 1842.) 

2.  "On  the  Mechanism  of  Vomiting."     ("  New  York  Lancet,"  1842.) 

3.  "On  Carcinoma  in  General  and  Cancer  of  the  Stomach."     (Ibid., 
1842.) 

4.  "  On  the  Explanation  of  the  Difference  in  Size  of  the  Male  and  Fe- 
male Urinary  Bladder. ' '     (Ibid.. ,  1842. ) 

5.  "An  Essay  on  the  Origin  of  Syphilis."     ("  New  York  Journal  of 
Medical  and  Collateral  Sciences,"  1844.) 

6.  "  Remarks  on  Cases  of  Inflamed  Knee-joint,"     (Ibid. ,  1844.) 

7.  "Extraordinary  Effects  of  a  Stroke  of  Lightning,  Singular  Phe- 
nomena."    (Ibid.,  1844.) 

8.  "Observations  on  Geophagy."     ("Southern  Medical  and  Surgical 
Journal, "1845.) 

9.  "Experiments  Illustrating  the  Seat  of  Volition  in  the  Alligator,  or 
Crocodilus  Lucius  of  Cuvier,  with  Strictures  on  the  Reflex  Theory." 
( ' '  New  York  Journal  of  Medical  and  Collateral  Sciences,"  1845  and  1846. ) 

10.  "Statistical  Researches  on    Cancer."     ("Southern    Medical  and 
Surgical  Journal,"  1846.) 

11.  "On  the  Quarantine  Regulations  at  Savannah,  Ga."     ("  New  York 
Journal  of  Medical  and  Collateral  Sciences,"  1846.) 

12.  "  Remarks  on  the  Physiology  of  the  Voice. "     ( "  Southern  Medical 
and  Surgical  Journal,"  1846.) 

13.  "  Dr.  Bennet  Dowler's  Contributions  to  the  Natural  History  of  the 
Alligator."     (Ibid.,  1847.) 

14.  "On  Sulphuric  Ether."     (Ibid.,  1847.) 

15.  "The  Philosophy  of  Medicine,  an  Address."     (Ibid.,  1849.) 

16.  "  Observations  on  a  Remarkable  Exudation  of  Ice  from  the  Stems 
of  Vegetables,  and  on  a  Singular  Protrusion  of  Icy  Columns  from  certain 
kinds  of  Earth  during  Frosty  Weather. "     ( "  Proceedings  of  the  American 
Association   for  the  Advancement  of  Science,"   1850;    "Philosophical 
Magazine,"  1850.) 

17.  "  Observations  on  the  Freezing  of  Vegetables  and  on  the  Causes 
which  enable  some  Plants  to  endure  the  Action  of  Extreme  Cold." 
("American  Journal  of  Science,"  1852 ;  also  "  Proceedings  of  the  American 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,"  1853.) 

18.  "On  the  Venomous  Serpents  of  Georgia."     ("Southern  Medical 
and  Surgical  Journal,"  1853.) 

390 


JOHN    LE  CONTE. 

19.  "  On  the  Descent  of  Glaciers."     ("American  Journal  of  Science," 
1855.) 

20.  "  Review  of  Lieutenant  M.  F.  Maury's  Work  on  the  '  Physical 
Geography  of  the  Sea.'  "     ("Southern  Quarterly  Review,"  1856.) 

21.  "  The  Mechanical  Agencies  of  Heat."     (Ibid. ,  1856. ) 

22.  "  Influence  of  the  Study  of  the  Physical  Sciences  on  the  Imaginative 
Faculties. ' '    An  Inaugural  Address,  delivered  December  1, 1857  (Columbia, 
S.  C.,  1858). 

23.  "Preliminary  Researches  on  the  alleged  Influence  of  Solar  Light 
on  the  Process  of  Combustion."     ("American  Journal  of  Science,"  1857 ; 
also  "  Proceedings  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Science,"  1857,  and  "Philosophical  Magazine,"  1858.) 

24.  "  On  the  Influence  of  Musical  Sounds  on  the  Flame  of  a  Jet  of  Coal 
Gas."     ("American  Journal  of  Science,"  1858;    "Philosophical  Maga- 
zine," 1858.) 

25.  "On  the  Optical  Phenomena  presented  by  the  Silver  Spring  in 
Marion  County,  Florida  (U.  S.)"     ( "American  Journal  of  Science,"  1861 ; 
also  "  Proceedings  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Adviinccmcnt  of 
Science,"  1860). 

26.  "  On  the  Adequacy  of  Laplace's  Explanation  to  Account  for  the 
Discrepancy  between  Computed  and  the  Observed  Velocity  of  Sound  in 
Air  and  Gases."     ("  Philosophical  Magazine,"  1864.) 

27.  "  Limiting  Velocity  of  Meteoric  Stones  reaching  the  Surface  of  the 
Earth."     ("Nature,"  1871.) 

28.  "  Vital  Statistics,  Illustrated  by  the  Laws  of  Mortality  from  Cancer. ' ' 
("Western  Lancet,"  1872.) 

29.  "Heat  Generated  by  Meteoric  Stones  in  Traversing  the  Atmos- 
phere."    ("Nature,"  1872.) 

30.  ' '  The  Nebular  Hypothesis. "     ( "  Popular  Science  Monthly, "  1 873. ) 

31.  Articles  on  "Bonanza,"  "  Comstock  Lode,"  and  "Death  Valley," 
in  Johnson's  Cyclopaedia,  vol.  iv,  appendix,  1876. 

32.  "Mars  and  His  Moons."     (" Popular  Science  Monthly,"  1879.) 

33.  "Origin  and  Distribution  of  Lakes;    Meteorology  of  the  Pacific 
Coast."     ("  Mining  and  Scientific  Press  "  and  Supplement,  1880-' 81.) 

34.  "  Influence  of  Modern  Methods  of  Popularizing  Science."    ("  Berke- 
leyan,"  1882.) 

35.  "Sound  Shadows  in  Water."     ("American  Journal  of  Science," 
1882;  also  "Philosophical  Magazine,"  1882.) 

36.  "Origin  of  Jointed  Structures  in  Undisturbed  Clay  and  Marl  De- 
posits. "     ' 'American  Journal  of  Science,"  1882. ) 

37.  "Apparent  Attractions  and  Repulsions  of  Small  Floating  Bodies." 
("American  Journal  of  Science,"  1882;  also  "Philosophical  Magazine," 
1882.) 

391 


NATIONAL    ACADEMY    OF    SCIENCES. 

38.  "Amount  of  Carbon  Dioxide  in  the  Atmosphere."     (f 'Philosophical 
Magazine,"  1882.) 

39.  "Physical  Studies  of  Lake  Tahoe."     ("Overland  Monthly,"  three 
papers,  1883,  1884.) 

40.  "The  Part  Played  by  Accident  in  Discoveries."     ("  Berkeleyan," 
1884.) 

41.  "  Horizontal  Motions  of  Small  Floating  Bodies  in  Relation  to  the 
Validity  and  Postulates  of  the  Theory  of  Capillarity."     (''American 
Journal  of  Science,"  1884  ;  also  "Journal  de  Physique,"  1885.) 

42.  "  Criticism    of    Bassnett's    Theory    of    the    Sun."    •  ("  Overland 
Monthly,"  1885.) 

43.  "The  Evidence  of  the  Senses. "     ( "  North  American  Review, ' '  1 8X5. ) 

44.  "The  Metric  System."     ("Overland  Monthly,"  1885.) 

45.  "Thought  Transference."     (Ibid.,  1885.) 

46.  "Barometer  Exposure."     ("  Science,"  1886.) 

47.  "Electrical  Phenomena  on  a  Mountain."     (Ibid.,  1887.) 

48.  "  Standing  Tiptoe,  a  Mechanical  Problem."    (Ibid.,  1887.) 

49.  "Vital  Statistics  and  the  True  Coefficient  of  Mortality,  illustrated 
by  Cancer."     ("Tenth  Biennial  Report  of  the  State  Board  of  Health  of 
California,"  1888.) 

50.  "  The  Decadence  of  Truthfulness."     (1889.) 

SOME   MINOR   CONTRIBUTIONS. 

51.  "On  a  Topographical  Survey  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina." 
("Lieber's  Third  Annual  Report  on  Geological  Survey  of  South  Caro- 
lina," 1859.) 

52.  "Table  of  Physical  Constants."     ("Smithsonian  Report,"  1878.) 

53.  "Limiting  Velocity    of   Meteoric   Stones   reaching   the   Earth." 
("Nature,"  vol.  iv,  1878.) 

54.  "  Expansion  of  Glass  by  Heat."     ("  Nature,"  1880.) 

55.  "Ice  Crystals."     ("Nature,"  1880.) 

56.  ' '  Solid  Ice  at  High  Temperatures. "     ( "  Nature, ' '  1880. ) 

57.  "On  the  Space  Protected  by  Lightning  Conductors."     (" Nature," 
1881.) 

58.  "  Hie  True  Coefficient  of  Mortality."     ("Nature,"  1881.) 

59.  "Photography  of  Diffraction  Rings."     ("  Nature,"  1881.) 

60.  "Apparent  Attraction  of  Small  Floating  Bodies."     ("Science," 
1883.) 

61.  "  Thermal  Belts  in  North  Carolina."     ("  Science,"  1883.") 

62.  "  Hydrogen  Whistles."    Showing  the  error  of  Galton.    ("  Nature," 
1883.) 

392 


JOHN    LK  CONTE. 

63.  "  Sun's  Radiation  and  Geological  Time."     ("  Science,"  1883.) 

64.  " Solar  Constants."     ("Science,"  1883.) 

65.  "Upper  Glow  of  the  Skies  in  Relation  to  Halos  and  Coronee." 
("Science,"  1884.) 

66.  "Remarkable  Sunsets."     ("  Nature,"  1884.) 

67.  "Velocity  of  Atmospheric  Waves  from  Krakatoa."     ("Science," 
1884.) 

68.  "  Points  on  Lightning  Rods."     ("  Science,"  1884. ) 

69.  "  Do  Young  Snakes  Take  Refuge  in  the  Stomach  of  the  Mother?  " 
("Nature,"  1886.) 

70.  "  Flooding  of  Sahara."     ("  Science,"  1886.) 

71.  "  Deepest  Fresh- water  Lake  in  America."     ("Science,"  1886.) 

72.  "  Lightning  Flashes :  Their  Direction  Undeterminable  by  the  Eye." 
("Nature,"  1887.) 

73.  ' '  Noctilucous  Clouds. "     (' '  Nature, ' '  1889. ) 

74.  "Relation  of  the  High   Schools  to  the  University."   .("Berke- 
ley an,"  1877.) 

75.  "  Importance  of  Unity  in  the  Methods  of  Instruction  in  the  Public 
Schools."     ("California  Teacher,"  1885.) 

76.  "Igneous    Meteors."     ("Mining  and  Scientific   Press."     Supple- 
ment, 1879.) 

77.  "Qualifications  of  Teachers  in  the  Primary  Schools."     ("Pacific 
School  and  Home  Journal,"  1887.) 

78.  "  The  Part  Played  by  Accident  in  Discoveries  in  Science."  ("  Berke- 
ley an,"  1884.) 

79.  "  Review  of  Bassnett's  Theory  of  the  Sun."    ("  Overland  Monthly," 
1885.) 

80.  "Review  of  Arthur    KimbalFs   Physical   Properties  of  Gases." 
("Overland  Monthly,"  1890.) 

81.  "Review   of  Robert  Thurston's    Heat  as   a    Form   of  Energy." 
("Overland  Monthly,"  1891.)     This  last  was  published  a  few  days  after 
his  death. 


393 


f 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  FUNERAL  SERVICES 

OF 

PROFESSOR  JOHN  LECONTE. 


The  funeral  services  will  be  held  in  the  University 
Harmon  Gymnasium  on  Sunday  next,  May  third,  at  two 
o'clock  P.  M. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Akerly  will  officiate. 

The  following  pall-bearers  have  been  selected  : 

Regents  of  the  University  :— J.  West  Martin,  Columbus 
Bartlett,  A.  S.  Hallidie. 

Members  of  the  Academic  Senate : — Professor  Martin 
Kellogg,  Professor  E.  W.  Hilgard,  Professor  W.  B.  Rising. 

Representatives  of  the  Alumni  Association  : — William 
R.  Davis,  Arthur  Rodgers. 

Representatives  of  the  Senior  Class : — J.  C.  Ainsworth, 
W.  C.  Allen,  Charles  Palache,  Ross  Morgan,  J.  D.  Meeker, 
P.  L.  Weaver,  C.  W.  Merrill,  A.  S.  Blake. 

Representatives  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences : — Judge 
O.  C.  Pratt,  Hon.  William  Alvord. 

The  music  will  be  rendered  by  the  University  Glee 
Club. 

The  ceremonies  will  be  under  the  superintendence  of 
Professor  Frank  Soule. 

The  pall-bearers  are  requested  to  assemble  at  the  resi- 
dence of  the  deceased,  at  the  head  of  Dwight  Way,  at  1:30 

P.  M. 

The  members  of  the  University,  including  Regents, 
Faculties,  and  students,  are  requested  to  meet  at  the  Bacon 
Art  and  Library  Building  at  half-past  one  o'clock  and  pass 
in  procession  to  the  Harmon  Gymnasium. 


